Buffer or bumper for amusement vehicles or cars



Nov. 20, 1928. 1,692,095

D. H. SCOTT BUFFER OR BUMPER FOR AMUSEMENT VEHICLES OR CARS Filed Jan.14, 192 8 FIE' 1.

anoewfoz v .D-H- SCOTT Patented Nov. 20, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DUDLEY HUMPHREY SCOTT, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE HUMPHREYCOMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

BUFFER OR BUMPER FOR AMUSEMENT VEHICLES ORCARS.

Application filed January 14, 1328. Serial No. 246,661.

The present invention pertains to an improvement in a buffer or bumperfor amusement vehicles or cars, such for example, as are caused totravel in confined spaces or over fixed areas with similar cars andwhich are especially designed to rotate and roll in an erratic mannerand come inforcible contact frequently. The invention is also animprovement in the buffer construction shown and described in theLetters Patent to C. Stillman, No. 1,420,065, dated June 20, 19912. Inthat particular device annular buffer member is supported by a series ofcoiled springs. The present buffer is constructed to avoid certainobjections and difficulties arising from the use of coil springs, all ashereinafter shown and described and more particularly pointed out in theclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an amusementcar embodying my improvement, and Fig. 2 is a bottom view, partly insection, of the part shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on alarger scale, of a portion of the device, and Fig. 4 is a horizontalsection of the same parts.

The amusement vehicle or car with which the buffer is used, is usuallyconstructed with a round body 2 having an entrance 3 and seats 4therein. Also this body is customarily mounted upon casters 5 to permitit to roll over a stationary and movable surface with an irregularrolling movement in every direction. In some instances a rotating flooris used adjacent an inclinedstationary floor to produce irregularrevolving movements of the car, and a number of such cars are therebyoperated and brought forcibly together at frequent intervals, sometimesin a direct line and at other times with glancing impact. The rate oftravel is sometimes slow and then again very rapid, so that a considerable shock is experienced by the occupants of the car, which shock mustbe absorbed resiliently to protect the occupants of the car and the loaditself. The buffer, therefore, must be of sturdy construction towithstand the blows and must also be so constructed that a considerabledegree of resiliency will be present, and the resilient means must be ofsuch character that a free and wide scope of movement of the buffer maybe obtained without injury to such means or without unduly shorteningthe life and effectiveness thereof. To that end, I provide a bufler ring6 made of angle iron or a channel iron and support said ring in spacedrelation to o J osite end of rubber band 7 bein loo ed lP a; P

in a similar way around a bushing 8 on bolt or screw 11 suspended orprojected downwardly from a wooden sill 12 on body 2, and this end ofband 7 is also held against disconnection by an angular fitting 14sleeved over and heldby said bolt 11.. The mode of attaching each rubberband 7 is the same radially at all places in thee-a1", and the number ofsuch bands used may vary according to the size of thecar and the bufferring. The bands which I use correspond in thickness to the average innertube of a vehicle tire, and the tension and strength of such bands issuch that a relatively heavy buffer ring 6 may be supported in ahorizontal position opposite the base of car 2 a few inches above andapart from the floor over which the car travels. Moreover a rubber bandsuch as I have described is capable of permitting the buffer ring tosurrender or yield, under severe shock, in substantial degree, withoutundue strain, stretch or jeopardy to The rubber bands are normally therubber bands, the elastic limits of the v band greatly exceeding that ofany coiled wire spring which must operate within the same confininglimits. Accordingly the rubber bands are more efiective, safer to use,and more durable than springs. Also, varying degrees of tension may beobtained for any given operating unit by merely using bands of greaterthickness or of width, all without change in the buffer or car or thedistance between the buffer ring and car body. The rubber bands 7 aretherefore so supported that they may be readily attached to and detachedfrom the car body.

In operation when the buffer ring meets an obstruction or is broughtinto forcible contact with another similar buffer the ring is forcedtoward the body at one side and obviously the opposite side of the ringmoves away from the body, thereby stretching the rubber bands on thatside. If the portion of contact is so severe that lateral movement ofthe ring is an extreme one, the rubber bands 7 Will buckle freely at oneside of the body Where the ring is engaged, and the rubber bands at theopposite side of the body will be stretched in substantial degree butnot to their extreme elastic limits, a large factor of safety Withinsuch limits being present in the band itself, as originally designed.The rubber bands are therefore more effective'and have greaterdurability and a longer life and also more economical to make and usethan coil springs. The rubber'bands also permit a greater freedom ofmovement of the buffer ring and a freer buckle in themselves Withoutpossible injury to themselves durin action than Wire springs, and theaction of each rubber band is more solid and requires no lubrication ascompared with springs.

What I claim, is:

1. A buffer or bumper for amusement cars of the type described,comprising a buffer ring, together with a series of rubber bands securedto said ring and to the car body and supporting the ring resiliently inspaced relation to the body and apart from the floor supporting body.

2. An amusement vehicle or car of the type described, having a bufferring supported in spaced relation to the car body by means of a seriesof radially extending bands made of rubber. V

3. An amusement vehicle or car of th type described, mounted uponrolling supports, having a separatebuffer ring encircling a spacedportion and suspended therefrom in spaced concentric position in'respectthereto by means of a series of radially extending rubber bands, saidbands being endless bands and secured at their opposite looped ends-tosaid ring and to the vehicle body, respectively.

4. An amusement vehicle or car of the type described, having a bufferring encircling its base portion and spaced apart therefrom, said ringbeing of channel formation and having removable bolts extending throughits channel portion, anda series of endless rubber bands secured to thebase portion of said body and looped at their outer ends around saidbolts.

5. An amusement vehicle'or ear of the type described, having a separatebuffer ring encircling its base portion and supported and spaced aparttherefrom by means of endless rubber bands secured at one end to saidring extending radially inward toward said body, and said body havingmembers to Which the inner loop ends of said bands are connected.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

DUDLEY HUMPHREY sooTT

